Backstory: As the kids try to make their way into the haunted theme park they realize they can’t just bust in through the main entrance. Looking for alternate ways to get inside, they come across a culvert that seems to lead straight where they’re heading. And just like any self-respecting teenage horror movie victims participants, they (of course!) decide to enter the darkness…

Of course we're not limited to static light sources -- we can even move a light around. Here we have a dynamic point light moving around and lighting up just the appropriate region of the scene. Also note how the character sprite casts proper shadows onto the background geometry.

Just a quick update today: I've been messing around with various ideas for the game's menu screen and finally settled on something that I feel suits the style pretty well. In keeping with the late '80s/early '90s vibe, I've mocked up this handheld game console as the menu system. This is where the player will be able to load and save their progress as well as adjust the game's settings.

Today I'd like to show some of the character designs I've been working on lately. I've shown a lot of background art here already. Now it's the characters' turn! The designs are still very much work-in-progress but I feel they're starting to come together finally.

On the right we have Emma -- she's a bit of a wallflower. The cool dude on the left is the oldest brother, Pete. He's a huge metal fan. Last but not least in the middle we have the youngest sibling, Mikey; he's the playable character in this game.

And here is one of the more villainous characters. Because obviously no haunted theme park would be complete without a creepy evil clown lurking around the corner, right?

Finally there's also this background I've been working on for a while: We're looking up at the boys' treehouse in the woods. This is where the story unfolds when they discover an unexpected visitor.

Great job :DI love it, your 2.5D approach is genius. It's a bit sad the camera must be static, but oh well it's worth it!

I agree the VHS effect looks nice, but the white lines hurt my eyes and I would turn them off if I could. Maybe use that only at the start of the screen and then just do less intrusive VHS effects, chromatic aberration or these differently colored rectangles... Maybe not flashing but rolling? Dunno.

For gruesome point-and-click deaths, you'll definitely have to play the last level of Phantasmagoria for inspiration. (You can skip any chapter IIRC, so you wouldn't have to play the rest, although you could.)